985. Renewing the Mind

The book of Ephesians is about revealing a mystery that had been hid in the past but is now unveiled in the present and what is that mystery that God the father is preparing for God the son of a bride. This bride or this body called the church is inclusive of believing Jews and Gentiles. He's brought Jews and Gentiles separate and he has made them more wine in a new body, a new humanity that is called the church of Jesus Christ. That's what God is doing in the world and so he writes to these Gentiles and he says and live out this new life that you have Christ that is what our theme is all about living that out is Gentiles in the world today so this is the mystery that amazes the Angels. I wonder how many of them say why today on The Daily Platform. Dr. Steve Pettit, president of Bob Jones University is continuing to study series from Ephesians entitled new life in Christ.

Steve has written a study booklet for the series. If you would like to follow along.

You can order a printed copy from the website. The Daily Platform.com today. Steve will show us in Ephesians 422 through 24. How we as Christians can renew our minds. Please take your Bibles this morning and turn to the book of Ephesians Ephesians chapter 4. We are continuing our study this morning and the fifth a message that we have looked at in the book of Ephesians and this will be also part of your study tonight in your dormitories. As we were working through our theme on new life in Christ were coming this morning very very key and important verse in Scripture is a very short verse just seven words here in the English but they are life transformative words and so were going to read verses 22 to 24 with our focus this morning on verse 23. Hear what God has to say to us today that you put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the mood new man which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness right here in the greater Greenville area.

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It is expected this year to produce 481,000 cars at a production rate of 1400 cars per day. What is amazing is that every car that comes off the line has already been sold.

So why do people want a BMW. Well it's pretty cool car really looks nice.

I would love for someone to give me one if they would be so kind I drive it for sure, but why well because of its quality in one way we know, for example, the engine of a BMW is rated to be one of the best in the world. So my question this morning is what is it what is the engine that drives the Christian life. Well that's what were you look at this morning because in Ephesians 422 through 24.

He lays out what we talked about last week we talked about Christ in the school of conversion and I dropped jumped over verse 23 and said we would come back to it this week because this is really the engine that drives Christian living. So I just do a brief review from what we learned a couple of weeks ago. The message which entitle with Christ in the school of conversion. We look at verses 17 through 19 where we find that Paul communicated to the Ephesian Gentiles gospel he preached the gospel to them and he told them how they were converted and that is is Paul preach the gospel in Ephesus, and as he proclaimed the message the Holy Spirit communicated through Paul. The spirit was preaching and he was preaching in such a way that actually it was Jesus speaking through Paul to those who were hearing.

They were hearing Christ. And when they believe the message they entered into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. That's what verses 17 through 19 about that we come down to verse 22 and Paul here explains the response of the Gentiles in conversion. What happened when they were converted.

They heard the met message and they responded and what was their response. They put off the old man of sin and they put on the new man of Christ, and that putting all and that putting own is a twofold step in conversion and we call that repentance and faith, leaving the old and embracing the new.

Now what's really interesting to me is that Paul squeezes between the put off and put own versus one of the most important and significant verses in the entire Bible concerning how you spiritually grow and mature as a Christian we would call verse 23 a sanctification verse look at what it says it's very simple. It says and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, what is the engine that drives the Christian life. It is being renewed in the spirit of your mind, Dr. Michael Barrett said right thinking about the gospel produces right living in the gospel so my message to title this morning is simply renewing the mind. That's the study of the chapter that you have. This is the engine that drives the Christian life of three things I'd like us to see this morning regarding the idea renewing the my number one.

The first is what the renewing of the mind is not so before we understand what it is, what is it not an first of all let me say that the renewing of the mind is not an experience to be separated from your conversion.

As I said Paul strategically places this verse, verse 23 between the put all in the put own versus so why did he put it in between.

For example, why don't why would he not put it after put off put out a me to me that would make more sense doesn't sanctification flow out of your salvation experience will I believe that the reason Paul did this was that he was having a careful emphasis on the way. Sanctification actually works and the main idea is that your spiritual growth cannot be separated from your own salvation is not like you get saved, and that you grow when you leave the salvation experience but actually growth is rooted in your salvation experience. If it happens that you believe that What Often Takes Pl. in Christian circles is they develop a wrong thinking about sanctification. Let me give you two examples.

One example of this one way of wrong thinking is that spiritual growth is getting beyond the gospel spiritual growth. You could say this way is moving past the basic or the simple truths of salvation and I think that we have a classic example that every single day in chapel that is with everything we say the creed. How many of you have ever wondered why do we say this thing everyday. I mean everyone, please be honest, it was big trouble is that why do we do that everyday I move everyone to venture how many of you have thought, well, yeah. I mean, I believe that course. I believe that, so let's move on beyond that, what often happens is the basic things that we believe in order to be saved. We move beyond these things in order to spiritually grow. But the reality is the opposite that spiritual growth is not getting beyond the gospel. It's getting in to the gospel is actually living in and living out what happened to you. The moment that you are say Christian living is living out and experience what happened to me the moment that I was converted. For example, is making the crucifixion and the resurrection essential part of your daily life. Listen to what Paul says in Galatians 524 and they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh Christian living is daily, crucifixion. It's living out what happened when Jesus died on the cross and that he says in the next verse. If we live in the spirit, let us also walk in the spirit that's the resurrected life and so Paul calls the Christian like the crucified and resurrected life that's living out the gospel is practically putting off the old man and putting on the new man just like I did. The moment that I was say this is what we would mean when we talk about a Christ centered or gospel centered life. It's a life.

This rooted in what God did in and through his son on the cross. But then there's another problem that can happen if we separate the salvation experience from our sanctification and that is it can lead to practically making justification necessary for salvation and sanctification at best secondary and in some cases unnecessary for salvation now make sure I'm very clear on this. I'm not teaching at all that you you have to keep your salvation will work for your salvation or earn your salvation. That's very clear. Were all saved by grace through faith we Understand something that when the Bible speaks of salvation. It actually sees it as a whole.

Your justified or sanctified, one that you go to glorified Romans chapter 8 from the Lord to justify.

He also glorified God sees it as a whole. You got saved your getting saved you going to be say he sees the whole thing.

Now what can happen is practically you can make justification of such an important deal that actually sanctification takes a backseat.

If we separate justification from sanctification. The practical result of that is we minimize Christian living. We get people saved, but we really don't worry that much about how they live because in the end, as long as they are, say that's the most important thing.

And when you separate justification from sanctification, it will inevitably inevitably lead to what we call antinomianism.

That is, simply put, the way you live doesn't really matter as long as your say so. Verse 23 Paul actually infused in the whole concept of conversion because Christian living is living out and experience what happened to you. The moment that you are say renewing of the mind is not an experience to be separated from conversion in the notice number two. Secondly, the renewing of the mind is not just an intellectual exercise Bible study and scripture memory are important, but that doesn't necessarily mean you're renewing the mind, if you've ever memorized diverse and then a day later you to completely forgot. Did necessarily changed your mind.

It just made your mind tired, but it didn't change your life. How many people can sit in a Christian university like this at Bob Jones and listen to preaching every single day or going to seminary and the study in class classes.

And yet, not necessarily are they growing spiritually so intellectual understanding is not necessarily spiritual maturity and then thirdly, let me say renewing of the mind is not simply replacing old habits and establishing new habits. An unsafe person can make some basic moral changes in their life.

They do it all the time.

The very thing the Paul commands us to do to put all that we later read in verses 25 through 32 like don't lie.

Don't steal. Don't be angry. Don't have corrupt communication out of your mouth. All of these things can be superficially changed by unbelievers. But what Paul is talking about is something much deeper. He's talking about the renovation of your whole inside way of living is not talking about self-improvement or developing external character qualities, though those things are important. That's not what he's talking about here. He's talking about the renovation of the whole person from the inside out.

My mother for 14 years lived in New York City.

She lived in Brooklyn and her apartment was what they call the brownstone apartments in Brooklyn Heights, and you looked out side mount my mother's back window in it was a million-dollar view is unbelievable. You can see the East River downtown Manhattan Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, you can see them all and right across the street from where my mother lived.

They renovated this building that stood about eight or nine stories tall and and for weeks and weeks. All you can hear all day long is banging clanging because they went inside that building and I mean they gutted it and everything came out down shoots into big bands and they hauled the bins away with all the junk and then they quit the banging clanging and the people started going in and they started renovating and when they were finished with that building on the outside it looked the same but when you walked in on the inside. It was trans warmed. That's what Paul was talking about. He's talking about a transformation that takes place in your life so that leads me to the second point in what is then the renewing of the mind, let's go back to verses 22 and 24 and just note a couple things. Let's remember some things. For example, 22, he says put off the old man.

What is the old man the old man is everything you are in Adam because of sin, it's a life that is characterized by selfish living living for your own lost that was put off at the moment of conversion.

What is the new man the new man is everything you are in Christ because of grace that was put on it salvation. That's the new life that you received from Christ. It's the restoration of the image of God that was lost by Adam in the fall but is regained by Christ to the cross and through his resurrection. What Adam lost. You regain a Paul specifically says that the qualities of the two mittens of the new manner twofold.

He said number one is a desire to do what God requires. We call that righteousness and number two is a devotion to know and love God, we call that holiness. What is he saying he saying a transformation has taken place in your heart. God is put within you.

What did not exist, why did Adam have in the garden. He had spontaneous inherent in her desire to love God and obey God. He wanted to know God's life was wrapped up in God. That is exactly what God does in your heart the moment you converted and all change of life, then as a Christian begins through the sanctification of the desires of your heart, all change of life starts internally through the nurturing of the sanctified desires growing inside now a famous Scottish theologian of the 1800s was amending Thomas Chalmers. He wrote a piece entitled the explosive power of a new affection and his conclusion was this his main point was that you cannot change your old affections without replacing them with new affection making a moral resolution. The change is insufficient to displace an old love for sin only by replacing a new love will we effectively change our hearts must be transformed by loving the truth of the gospel and him and loving the riches that we have in Christ. Let me put it this way you will never displace your old love for fried chicken unless you replace it for knit with a new love for grilled chicken is gotta be a change. So how does that take place will lead, so let's look at the verse 23 and let's break the verse down in the two parts. Notice what he says.

Number one he says be renewed and then he says number two in the spirit of your mind.

So what is it mean to be renewed. Well first of all is in the present tense is something is happening right now you're being renewed right now. It's also in the passive mood which is referring to something that you it's not referring to something that you're doing is referring to something is happening to you. You were being renewed, something is taking place in your life you're in a particular place where something is happening and so this means that you are not the agent of renewal, you don't renew yourself in this case, God is the agent of renewal. God is renewing us now. The idea of the word renew simply mean something this fresh like a piece of fresh fruit or fresh air that you go outside after you been in the stuffy room or opening this shade so fresh light can come into the room after being in the dark or getting in a bathtub filled with fresh clean water. Could you imagine having to take a bath after five other guys and used and how dirty and nasty it would be fresh water is also the fresh new strength you feel after you exercise and you worked out.

Maybe you've done a cardio workout or you pump some iron. It is that is that feeling you get that Ross you feel from exercise. So the idea is a refreshing board also mean something this new like a new new clothes or new car new house.

Have you ever gotten into a new car and you got that new smell about some perfume call that new smell smells wonderful is brand-new that new sensation that comes from something this new so the idea is that you're receiving a continual perpetual experience of spiritual freshness. God is refreshing. You and the ideas that without this, you lose vitality you decay, you become old. You die what is renewing its the continual outflow of the spiritual life that you received the salvation would you have any scriptural statements on this yes was in the Old Testament. Isaiah 4029 but they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength they shall mount up with wings as eagles they shall run and not be where they shall walk and not think God will renew your strength. Listen to the New Testament John 414 Jesus said this over drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst for the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

God puts with in you this perpetual's freeing of life. John 737 if any man thirst letting come to me and drink and he that believe though me as the Scripture says, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. This spake he of the spirit of God.

God puts the Holy Spirit in our life that new life.

And out of that new life comes that strength of life, so the renewing then is this renewal of life that began the moment that you say it is a continual refreshing spring for us but then there's a second phrase he says be renewed in the spirit of your mind. What is a mean spirit of your mind. The word spirit. There is not referring to the Holy Spirit is referring to your inner spirit that I can just make it very very simple. It's the inner life that was dad and sin that is quickened by God's power to the resurrection power of Christ. In other words, when the Bible says your dead in trespasses and sin means you have no connection with God.

But what is God due by grace he raises you from the dead, and instantly, you become connected to God's spirit. Romans 816 the spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God, there is the energy the human spirit is energized to the Holy Spirit. You may live, so he says be renewed in the spirit of your mind. What's he talking about their he's talking about an attitude that is developed through a relationship. Everybody here if you have a relationship if you you have a person that you really like and you enter into a relationship there's like this new like there that you didn't have before is relational is like seeing my wife and I haven't seen her for a week and to be with her.

There's this renewal, there's this freshness. There's this life that comes out of this what he's talking about Lisa's renewing of the spirit of the mind. He's not talking about intellect.

He's talking about relationship where you get to know God very quickly.

How does this renewing work and I just give us a couple words and that is and I will turn there, but many of you know the verse he says in Romans 12 to were to be renewed.

We we are to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. We to go through a metamorphosis, a change and how does that happen number one through daily communion with God through the word if you are saved in your connected to God, to the person of the Holy Spirit. You're also connected to the living power. The word of God and every single day, we develop a new outlook of life as we read and study the word if you're not in the word you're not being renewed is that simple. And then secondly I'll take this more up the next time we meet. What is a renewal of your life through obedience to God because potentate something you cannot separate spirituality from from morality only put it this way, you can't live in sin and grow in grace and so when he says put off the old and he says put on the new we are to discard and separate ourselves from the corrupt elements of our sinful life. He talks about those he says anger and stealing and lying in rotten words. All these things really put off, and then he says were to put all the elements of the new life we are in a new family. We have a new enemy. We have a new mission. We have a new person living inside of us we were experiencing new grace and a new love and so those new things that have happened inside of us are the very things that motivate us on the outside to tell the truth and not go to bed angry and to give generously and speak words of grace to be kind and forgiving to be morally pure. All of these flow not out of a strict moral code on the outside, but out of a new life that flows from the inside. That's the engine of the Christian life to be renewed in the spirit of your mind, would you bow your head close your eyes, as we pray. Father, we thank you this morning that you have given to us a way that is very clear in how we change Lord, we know we cannot go a different direction. Circumvent another way, Lord help us to grow in grace in the knowledge of the Lord help us Lord to love you and live in your presence so that our life is constantly being fully refreshed and renewed, where Lord there really is a reviving going on in our spirits. We pray this for our campus. We pray this for every student is here that they will experience the renewing of the spirit of their mind. In Jesus name, amen. You been listening to a sermon from Ephesians chapter 4 the sermon as part of the study series called new life in Christ by Dr. Steve Pettit, president of Bob Jones University. If you would like to follow along in the study booklet which Steve has written you can order a printed copy from the website. The Daily Platform.com.

I'm Steve Pettit, president of Bob Jones University and I invite you to join us at our beautiful campus in Greenville, South Carolina to see how you can be prepared academically and spiritually to serve the Lord through one of our more than 100 undergraduate and graduate programs. For more information about Bob Jones University, visit www.btu.edu or call 800-252-6363.

Thanks again for listening once again next week as we study God's word together on The Daily Platform